Rwanda Offers to Shelter African Migrants Being Sold Into Slavery in Libya

November 23, 2017

The Treeq Alsika Migrant Detention Center in Tripoli, where some migrants are held by Libyan authorities before they are repatriated.

Rwanda is offering to host some of the African migrants who reportedly face abuse in Libya.

Rwanda’s government says in a statement that “we cannot remain silent when human beings are being mistreated and auctioned off like cattle.”

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo tweeted Wednesday that “Rwanda is small, but we will find some space!”

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate investigation into the reported sale of African migrants in Libya, saying transactions may amount to crimes against humanity. Guterres said he was “horrified” by video footage, broadcast on CNN, of the bidding and sale of migrant men seeking a better life.

Thousands of African migrants make the dangerous journey to Libya hoping to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.